#Eden Lit- February 2013 Club Meeting Recap

We are still feeling our way into becoming something different here at Eden Lit and accordingly we talked about writer's block. We discussed what writer's block is, how it manifests and a little bit about how to counteract the problem.
Fear is at the root of creative block; the fear of failure and, for some writers, even the fear of success can trigger the crippling effects. There are other causes for creative blockage such as poor planning, lack of clear vision and the writer's own lack of experience.

So, now that we've covered what causes and perpetuates writer's block how do we counteract it's effects? Well, the simple answer is continue to write. Forget about your ego and write, even if the only thing that comes out is crap! The object is to simply sit down and let ideas flood out onto the paper, computer screen or even paper napkin....whatever medium you have handy. Some experienced writers will write key trigger phrases over and over until inspiration strikes or they get so bored they forget their fears and just write ANYTHING else.

What happens if the source of your creative block is your idea isn't developing like you envisioned? The easy answer is to stop and make a plot map. Diagram your idea and plot your way out of the creative maze. Start by defining your characters strengths, weaknesses, background and traits. Then move on to describing your setting in detail. Include the plot line as you envision it.
Now sit down and make a map of your progress. You can read about the process in this Eden Lit Lesson Plot mapping.

Once you have redefined your characters, reimagined your setting and your characters motives and drives and built a plot map you should have fresh ideas and the way out of the creative block should be obvious. If it still isn't clear then sit down and write about your feelings, frustrations and even possible alternative ideas. Whatever you do KEEP WRITING!

Every Friday we will offer some creative exercises to help you just sit down and write. They will be called #Eden Lit Prompts. They will be fun, sometimes silly and sometimes more serious ideas that you can just get some practice free writing. Even if you have nothing important to say, we still wanna hear your thoughts.

We aren't going to be giving writing topics unless we have a special topic we'd like to write about so please, if you have some poetry, novella, kinky little twiddle- whatever, share it with us. Just title your forum post with the heading #Eden Lit- (month.year)-title and you will be eligible to be our spotlight author for that month. The prize is mention in our article on SexIs, along with a section of your work. There is also a 1,000 point prize with the spotlight.

So wow us with your work...or work out your troubles with writer's block right here on EdenFantasys' Eden Lit forum!

Our next meeting is Monday March 11,2013 at 4 pm EST. Our topic next month will be: Getting Started. We will discuss how to go from an amorphous idea and a blank piece of paper or computer screen to the beginning of a literary work. So bring your ideas, concerns, questions and let's discuss how the heck to get started on that masterpiece we all have living inside of us.